Ahsoka's Path
by The Order of the White Knights
Summary: Ahsoka and others flee the temple after the Purge. Things keep getting worse until they find allies in the most unlikely of places. Now they're running for the one place no Jedi would go. The planet Mandalore. Wil they find shelter or a fight?
1. Running

**Here's the Ahsoka story we promised. Takes place the night of the Purge. Enjoy!**

Running

A young Togruta ran through the lower levels with her hood hiding her features. There were several other individuals running with her. Tears ran down their faces. They were running for their lives from the very people they had led countless times into battle. They all felt betrayed, but none more than the teenage Togruta.

They found an abandoned warehouse and ducked inside. They collapsed on the ground or watched the windows as they tried to catch their breath. There were nine humans, three Rodians, a Shistavanean, two Zabraks, three Twi'leks, and the female Togruta. Nineteen in all and for all they knew the last of their own. The last of the Jedi.

The Rodians were the only knights among them. The rest were padawans who had lost their masters. One of the humans stood up and walked over to the Togruta.

"Great! Just great! Your master just caused the downfall of the Jedi! Some chosen one! What, did you guys plan this? Huh?!" he yelled.

The Togruta, sitting down on the floor with her back against a crate, looked up to meet his gaze. Her eyes were swollen with tears and she looked so beaten. The man stopped glaring at her. One of the Rodian knights walked over and pushed him aside.

"Enough! If it hadn't been for her, we would've been slaughtered by the clone troopers." he said.

A Twi'lek female scooted over to the Togruta. "Ahsoka? Are you okay?"

Ahsoka looked down at the ground and brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "I…I…" She couldn't say anything.

"Narin, she's not well. Her master just betrayed the entire order and slaughtered Jedi he fought beside and called allies. She feels confused and lost." the Rodian said.

Ahsoka's mind was a mess. She recalled being at the temple waiting for her next assignment when she had felt something horrible about to occur in the Force. She had looked out a window to see a large force of the 501st Clone Troopers marching up to the temple. She saw her master in front leading them into the temple. She had taken off for the entrance. Her first thought was that her master was bringing the troopers in to protect them. Then she felt a great wave of death in the Force.

She stopped on the winding staircase she was on and saw the troopers break ranks and began to shoot the Jedi. Old or young, it didn't matter. She saw her master draw his lightsaber and easily defeated Jedi after Jedi. She felt the anger in him and the death of her friends. She felt sorrow and confusion. She didn't know what to do. So she ran.

She had stumbled across the Jedi who were with her now. They were cornered by a group of troopers and were being shot at. Six of them had been killed before she had jumped down from the level she was on and attacked the troopers. She didn't know what had happened, but she was looking down on the scene at first and the next she was standing in the middle of dead troopers with her green blade shimmering in the darkness.

She had gotten the others out of the temple and passed the blockades set by the troopers. She had motioned for them to halt just as they had gotten to the outer edges. She had seen troopers escorting Jedi, but not as prisoners. Before she could do anything, she had to hide when she saw Rex among them. Fearing he was also apart of the traitorous events occurring, she brought everyone down to the lower levels. Now here they were, trying to figure out what to do.

The male Rodian, Falor, was acting as the leader among them. The other Rodians supported him, but remained silent in all this. The humans and the other two Twi'leks followed their lead, but the Shistavanean, Zabraks, and Narin seemed to think Ahsoka should be their leader. But with her shaken up as she was, she was in no condition to do so yet.

They ended up settling in the warehouse. They had managed to make it to this place without being followed and had traversed almost 50 kilometers from the temple. They would be safe for awhile. Three people would be night guards and switch shifts throughout the night. Each night it would change so that no one was stuck with it. They searched the warehouse to find anything useful. Turns out it was a supply warehouse filled with food, water, and useful gadgets and equipment meant for emergencies such as invasion or shortages. This meant that no one would be coming here.

They had a small dinner and set up a holonet set before going to sleep for the night. Ahsoka was lucky to not be on watch duty, but she fell into a fitful sleep.

**Morning of the Next Day**

The group had woken up a few hours after sunrise and was rummaging through some containers of clothing while Falor and the other Rodian knights went out to see what info they could gather and to see if they could find anymore Jedi. Ahsoka, Narin, the other Twi'lek girl Zari, and the three female humans found some plain clothing normal people wore and switched their Jedi outfits for them. Ahsoka had found some loose tan clothing and had made a simple look that gave off the feeling of being poor but not down in the dumps. The pants were slightly loose on her, with the tunic she picked out better fitted to her chest. She kept her Jedi boots, but sprayed them with a tan coating of paint. The look was complete with the tan sash around her waist and the hood that hung from the back of her tunic.

"Ahsoka, here are some gloves that would go with what you're wearing." one of the humans, Asila, said, handing a pair of tan fingerless gloves to her. She accepted them and replaced her red ones with them. The rest of the girls, all of them teenagers, had dressed similar to her with some variations in their choices. When finished they returned to the boys to find them dressed in similar tan clothing.

"Seems we all agree its' better to hide in lighter clothing than in dark clothing." a male human, Raso, commented. He was sitting with the Shistavanean Ryor, tuning the holonet channels and trying to get a news channel.

"Darker clothing stands out and just screams 'Hey I'm hiding something!'" a male human, Darin, said. He grinned at this and managed to get a smile from everyone.

Ahsoka went over to a crate full of some type of fruit from a far away planet named Saldira. The fruit was sweet and as large as her fist. She picked one up and sat down against what she called her spot. Everyone else thought of it as her pity spot.

As she took a bite of the fruit, she sensed Falor and four others returning to the warehouse. She looked to the others and made a signal to watch the doors. Two of the humans walked over and stood to either side. First to come through was Falor, followed closely by two kids huddled close together. Last to enter were the other two Rodians. Making sure no one had followed them the humans closed the door behind them. The young kids, a boy and a girl, seemed to relax when they saw everyone there.

"This is Raki and Salira. They are twins that managed to escape the temple massacre when they had snuck out to explore the city." Falor explained. "They saw the temple's destruction this morning and almost went to the Army Barracks to ask what had happened. We managed to get them before they did."

Ahsoka looked at the twins. They had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Raki's hair was cut short and close to his head while Salira's was pulled into a ponytail that came down just below her shoulders. They wore plain civilian clothing made of red and white cloth. Their boots were muddy and worn out. She saw them smiling at their fellow Jedi and couldn't help but smile. She had thought all the younglings were killed.

Salira saw her and crossed over to where she was. "Are you Ahsoka?"

"Yes I am."

"Master Plo Koon told me stories about you. He kept saying how brave and strong you were. I always wanted to meet you."

Ahsoka smiled. She held out her hand to her and they shook hands. "Now we've met."

Salira returned the smile and sat down next to her. Ahsoka broke off a piece of the fruit and handed it to her. She started to nibble it.

"Word on the holonet is that the Jedi tried to pull a coup de taut on the Chancellor. Masters Kit Fisto, Mace Windu, and two others attempted to kill him, but the Chancellor and his new right hand Darth Vader killed them. Afterwards, Anakin Skywalker led the attack on the temple. He was named as the only loyal Jedi to the Republic and pardoned of any suspicious actions. It was discovered later that he was killed after being sent on a mission to destroy the Separatist leaders, which ended in success." one of the Rodians reported.

"There is no longer a Republic. It's the Empire and Imperial Army now. The clones that attacked us last night, the 501st. They're now Vader's Fist, the elite of the Army." Falor said. "A bounty is being put up for any and all Jedi found. Preferably dead, but if any are captured alive then it's just as good. Masters are wanted dead, Knights dead or alive, and Padawans are to be brought in alive."

The group seemed solemn at the news. That means that if they were discovered, they would be captured. Except that the Knights would rather die than be captured. Ahsoka stood up and stretched. She grabbed a satchel and looped it around her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Falor asked.

"I need to get some air. I'll be back later at nightfall." Ahsoka answered.

"Don't go alone. Take someone with you."

"I'll go." Narin volunteered.

"Same here." a human male, Jeru, said.

Falor nodded. Ahsoka, Narin, and Jeru walked out the small entrance behind the warehouse and proceeded towards the recreational district. Several people of all species and races were about, so they blend into the crowd well. Ahsoka found a small pub and went inside. Narin and Jeru watched as Ahsoka sat down at a stool on the table and ordered a ryll drink. The bartender hesitated, but when she slid a hundred credit piece towards him he pocketed it and gave it to her.

"Ahsoka, what're you doing?" Narin asked.

"What's it look like? I'm unwinding."

"Ahsoka! You shouldn't drink that! We were raised better than that!" Jeru said.

She looked back at them and raised the drink to her lips. Before either one could stop her, she drained the glass and set it down. They both gaped at her as she ordered another round of the alcohol. Narin breathed a sigh and sat down on her left side.

"What's up Ahsoka? You never did stuff like this at the temple."

As Jeru sat down on Ahsoka's right, she had finished half of the second glass. "Everything's different now. My master betrayed us and got killed carrying out the deeds of stupid Palpatine. All of my friends are dead, including my masters and family. There's no one left. We're hiding from the ones we used to protect and fearing every minute."

"But Ahsoka, there's still hope. We're your friends and we're still here. We're your family." Narin said.

"Yeah. That's true. But this is still my fault. If I had paid more attention to how my master was acting, then maybe I could've…"

"Stop." Jeru commanded.

Ahsoka and Narin looked at him with their eyes open in a surprised gesture.

"This is not and can never be blamed on you Ahsoka. You never knew of this and even when you were hurt and confused you rescued us from the clone army. It was both frightening and awesome. You went into this state where you were nothing but the Force. The Force surged through you and guided you in everything you did. You killed them, but you saved us. If that was an evil deed, then I never want to become good."

Jeru managed to get a smile from Ahsoka. She bowed her head over the bar and mumbled something. "Excuse me?"

"Thanks. Both of you. I needed that."

Narin rubbed Ahsoka's back. She was about to say something when her lekku twitched. She looked towards the doorway to see something white gleaming just outside. "Danger."

Ahsoka and Jeru looked towards the doorway to see stormtroopers walking in. All three of them pulled their hoods up before the troopers spread out through the bar. Three of them, one of which looked to be a sergeant, approached the bar and motioned for the bartender to come speak with him.

"This is an Imperial Search Warrant for the W-45G7 sector. Are you the owner of this establishment?"

"Yes sir."

"We got word that there are Jedi hiding in this sector. Do you know of any Jedi hiding in this area or in this building?"

Ahsoka watched as the man shook his head. "Sorry, no idea. If you do find some give them hell for me will ya?"

"Of course, sir. We still need to conduct a search of your establishment."

Before the bartender could say anything, two of the troopers pushed him aside and went into the back. The sergeant looked around until his eyes landed on them. Or at least his helmet was looking at them. He approached them and rested his hand on his blaster.

"ID chips please."

Ahsoka and Narin handed their fake IDs over and Jeru did after a moment of ruffling through his pockets. The sergeant scanned them and returned the chips back.

"Zarisi and Sani Varinto, adoptive daughters of Badiro, and Gredaro, their watcher. A little young to be keeping an eye on two teenage girls aren't we?"

"Trained to keep people in line since I was four, sir. The better you train, the better the service you get." Jeru answered.

"Isn't it always?" the sergeant said. "Well, thank you for your time."

The trooper moved away from them and scanned the room again before approaching another group of teenagers. When he asked for their ID chips, one of the females reached into a shoulder bag and rummaged around in it. Something fell out. Before it had even hit the ground, the trooper brought his blaster up and pointed it at her.

"JEDI!"

The sergeant's cry was heard by his troopers, who turned towards them with blasters and blaster rifles raised. The teenager and her four friends pulled out lightsabers and attacked the troopers.

Ahsoka and Narin stood up, but were pulled back by the back of their tunics behind the counter. Jeru had yanked them back and put his hands on theirs.

"Don't. We can't do anything. We have to get out of here." he said.

Ahsoka looked back over the counter. She knew he was right, but she still wished she could do something. The girl who had dropped her lightsaber and one of her companions were lying on the ground dead. The last three had been separated and were deflecting blaster bolts as fast as possible.

Her eyes were drawn to one of the humans. He had his face wrapped up, but his eyes seemed to draw her in. He had golden eyes that gave off something more. She wasn't sure what it was.

Then she was being rushed out the back door. Night was almost upon them. A crowd of people were rushing back and forth. The fight inside was drawing a large crowd. Ahsoka had trouble keeping up with Narin and Jeru. A loud bang sounded and she turned to see the body of two troopers and a Jedi slam into a building and lay down were they landed. The last two Jedi jumped through a hole in the wall that had been made by a grenade thrown by a trooper. They took off towards the western end of the district. With a quick nod from Narin and Jeru, Ahsoka and company took off after them. They made sure to keep their distance, but close enough to keep up with them.

A lone trooper was still trailing them. He was struggling, but keeping the two escaping Jedi in sight. Jeru hit the comm jammer on his wrist so the trooper couldn't call in his buddies. They kept going for a few dozen meters before they saw one of the Jedi take a hit and fall. The golden eyed Jedi stopped to help his friend, but was hit in the shoulder. The trooper stopped right by them, keeping enough distance to where the injured Jedi couldn't get him.

"Got you, Jedi scum. Now just turn off the jammer you've got or I start making this even more painful than it is." the trooper said, pointing his rifle at the badly injured Jedi.

"What do you mean? You're jamming us!" the golden eyed Jedi said.

The trooper cocked his head in confusion. Then Ahsoka and Jeru tackled him. He was twice their size and managed to toss Jeru off. He slammed Ahsoka down on the ground and pulled out a blaster aimed at her.

"Stand down civilian! These are criminals of the Empire. Or are you one of them? That's it you must be a…" He stopped short of what he was saying and fell forward. Ahsoka squirmed to get out from under him. She got up and saw that Jeru had pulled a blaster on the trooper.

"Where'd you get a blaster?" Ahsoka inquired.

"At the warehouse. When we agreed to put our lightsabers in the crate with anything else that might identify us as Jedi, some of the guys went looking for anything we could use as a discreet weapon. They found these blasters. Lightweight, silent, easy to reload, and easy to hide. Perfect for us." Jeru answered.

"Guys? Some help lease." Narin said. They looked to see her turning the fallen Jedi over. It was a teenage girl with short blond hair. The golden eyed Jedi had stood up and was standing over them. Ahsoka and Jeru walked over to them.

"Are you ok?" Ahsoka asked.

The golden eyed Jedi nodded. "We're fine thanks to you, but our friends…"

"I'm sorry. We couldn't do anything at first. Too many people around." Jeru apologized.

The girl had a wound that had gone through her side. It was a clean shot so there wasn't any blood. The wound had closed up immediately, but if she didn't get treatment soon she would develop a fever. She smiled weakly up at Ahsoka.

"Hello Padawan Tano." she said weakly.

"You know who I am?"

"Yes. I know you from when Master Plo trained our youngling class. I'm Ximina."

"Oh! I remember you. Glad to see you made it through the attack."

After quickly making sure her wound was wrapped up, they decided to go to the place Ximina and her companions had been hiding since it was closer than the warehouse. They slowly made it to the location and went to the door. Ahsoka, Narin, and Jeru gave their new companions a look of questioning.

"What's up?" the golden eyed Jedi asked.

"Why are we at a club?" Jeru asked.

"Well…" he started to answer, but then the door opened. A large man stood in the doorway.

"About time you got back! Who are these folks? Where are the others? Never mind, just get in here!"

They were ushered inside and stopped short when they came face to face with twelve individuals aiming rifles and blasters at them. They relaxed when they saw Ximina and moved to take her to a sofa. She didn't resist and let the doctor look at her wound and clean it. The others were grouped around the Jedi, waiting for some answers.

"Guys, first things first. These are more Jedi. This is Ahsoka, Narin, and Jeru." the golden eyed Jedi explained. "They rescued us when we were attacked by clone troopers. That's what happened. The army is sweeping the eastern recreational district VF-4610. We were in a bar hiding from them when they entered. Sarina accidentally dropped her lightsaber and all hell broke loose. We were the only ones to get away. But there was a lone trooper after us. We were injured and then rescued by our new friends. Their hideout is a few more kilometers from here so we said they could come here for the night."

The people seemed solemn at the news of the dead Jedi. Then the doctor rose up from Ximina. She turned to the large man who had let them in.

"She'll be fine. The wound hasn't festered and the shot just skimmed a few nerves. It didn't hit anything vital. She just needs some rest."

"That's good. You two, take her to the back den area. We need to get ready to open."

Two of the men gently lifted Ximina and carried her to a room in the back. The others began to light the place and turn on some of the machines behind the counter. Some took up spots in the kitchen behind the bar or up on the stage. The golden eyed Jedi motioned for Ahsoka and the others to follow him into the back.

"In return for putting us up here, we help them run the club. Any of you good with cooking, waiting on people, or singing?" he asked.

"I can wait on people." Narin offered.

"I know how to cook." Jeru answered.

"I…" Ahsoka stated. She thought about it. She never was very patient and she only knew a couple of quick meal recipes. So that left…

"She knows how to sing." Narin said. "She sung a few songs at the temple before."

"But that was only for the younglings. I don't know how good I can be for a club." Ahsoka said.

"Doesn't matter. You'll be fine!" the golden eyed Jedi said. He pointed to where each of them needed to go and went to his place on the stage where he sat down with a flute of some type. She shot a quick glare at Narin who smiled and returned to her work.

A few minutes later the club was open and packed. She was up on the stage nervously thinking of a song to sing. She looked to Gold Eye (since she still didn't know his name that was what she called him) and got an encouraging nod from him. She smiled and when they started to play a soft melody she began to sing a Jedi lullaby. Time seemed to slow down and she lost track of time. She was only aware of the music and the sound of her voice.

**A few hours later**

Ahsoka and the others were cleaning up the club. Everyone had kept congratulating Ahsoka on her singing. The club's customers had kept applauding her throughout the evening. She relaxed on the sofa in the back with Ximina. Once everyone else had gathered, they had a light dinner.

"Hey Gold Eye, so what's up with you and the head wrap?" Ahsoka asked when they were finished and having a sweet from Corellia for dessert.

"Huh? Oh you mean me!" the golden eyed Jedi said. He leaned back in his chair and began to unwrap his head. "First off, since I never did introduce myself my name is Zarin. The reason for my head gear is this."

He unwrapped his head and faced them. He had black hair that was cut short and close to his head. It was spiked. The true bizarre things were the other features on his face. He had pointed ears, gold spots running across his face and under each eye, and fangs. Ahsoka starred in wonder of Zarin. She immediately realized she was doing so and blushed.

"I am an Asarian. My people are extremely rare and usually can only be found on the outer rim. If I were discovered, I would be hunted by Palpatine."

"Just how rare are your people?" Jeru inquired.

"Besides me, there was only one other Asarian Jedi. He was my master and died during the Temple Assault. Last known numbers of my people were about a thousand and three hundred. But that was about ten years ago. No idea how much there are now."

Ahsoka looked at him with sadness. Then confusion hit her. "Why is your population so low?"

"Asarians are…force users. We never bothered to build lightsabers so we couldn't be called Jedi, but whenever we had our own planet to call home we built the bows of energy. We used large crystals called Varyl Crystals and shaped them into bows. Then we'd take a Salari crystal to use as our version of a lightsaber crystal and put it into the center of the bow. With the bond between the two crystals complete, we'd call on the force as we moved our hand back from the center of the bow to our shoulder and an arrow of energy just like a lightsaber would form. The rest is history."

"Why haven't the Asarians ever been heard of before?" Narin asked.

"We were at one time very well known. Back when the republic fought against the Mandalorian hordes. We served the Mandos and fought the Jedi. But then we realized what the Mandos were doing and we asked to withdraw from our alliance with them. But they thought we were going to serve the republic and refused to accept this. They launched a surprise strike on our homeworld. Our military forces were returning whenever the raid was taking place.'

"While our small fleet tried to combat the Mandos, our transports evacuated all civilians they could. But it was a massacre. Only twelve cruisers and five small transports escaped. Just a little more than six thousand. It became a sport to hunt Asarians and over the last several millennia our population has dwindled."

"Was there ever any hope for your people to revive and grow again?" Ahsoka asked.

"There was a rumor going around of the return of Asarians, but those things always go around." Zarin answered. Ahsoka saw something gleam in his eyes. _He knows something, but he isn't saying._

Everyone said goodnight and headed for their rooms. Zarin and Ximina led Ahsoka, Narin, and Jeru up to their room. There were three bunks in the room. Narin grabbed a top bunk with Ximina on the bottom. Jeru grabbed the top bunk of another, but it fell through on top of the other. When they were done laughing, Ahsoka jumped up to the remaining top bunk and Zarin the lower. Soon all the others had fallen asleep. Except for Ahsoka and Zarin.

"Zarin?"

"Yeah Ahsoka?"

"Do you know something about your people? You seemed to be a little out of it when I asked earlier."

"I hope Ahsoka. I really do. But when an Asarian becomes a Jedi, we pretty much loose contact with the rest of our people."

"Sorry. Goodnight Zarin."

"Goodnight Ahsoka." When Zarin was sure Ahsoka fell asleep, he reached underneath his tunic and pulled out a necklace. "I wish I could say everything. But other than knowing where my people are gathering to hide, I can't say I know. And where they're going you might not like." Hanging from the necklace was a Mandalorian mythosaur skull. The same skull symbol used on most Mandalorian war machines, weapons, and armor.

**Did you like it? DID YA? Reviews people!**


	2. Escape

**Chapter 2 is up! Sorry if it moves a little too fast.**

Escape

Ahsoka woke up the next day to the smell of something that made her stomach growl. She jumped down from the bed and saw that the room was empty. She made her way down to the kitchen to find everyone snacking on the meal that had been made. Ahsoka walked up and grabbed a plate with some food from Narin before settling down next to Zarin.

"So, what're you going to do today?" Zarin inquired.

"Well, I need to go and inform the others before they start to worry. If we don't do so, they'll worry like no other." Ahsoka answered.

"I'll come with you." Zarin offered. Ahsoka smiled and accepted the help.

Once they finished the meal, they left the club for the warehouse. Zarin had put his head gear on again. Ahsoka strode in front with Narin directly behind. Zarin and Jeru flanked them. They were having a polite conversation as they reached the warehouse area. They were caught up in a crowd that had surrounded the area.

"What's going on?" Ahsoka asked. A Bothan male turned to answer her.

"Imperial stormtroopers have discovered a Jedi hideout. They're in the middle of breaching the doors."

Fear showed on Ahsoka's face as she pushed her way to the front. The stormtroopers had blown the door and tossed grenades inside. They stormed in firing their blasters. Two of them fell back as blaster fire was returned at them. Ahsoka watched in horror at the flashes of blaster fire. Then it stopped, Troopers came out dragging the bodies of some of the Jedi. She saw the two Rodian knights, the human male who had acted so cruel to her, and six other humans dragged out dead. Then she watched in horror as two troopers pushed Falor, the Rodian who had been leading them, out into the open. He was wounded badly.

"That's the last one. The place is empty." a trooper reported to the Lieutenant outside.

"Good, then we just need to figure out what to do with this traitor. He's too injured to move and we aren't required to bring Knights in."

Two troopers pulled Falor to his feet. They weren't gentle about and one even punched him in the gut. Falor's eyes found Ahsoka. He made a hidden gesture and reached out in the force to her, warning and pleading with her to leave. The lieutenant pulled out his hand held blaster and held it between Falor's eyes. "Any last words Jedi?"

Falor stood up tall. "You may kill me now, but the Empire will fall. The Emperor has deceived you all and I pity you for what is to come." Then he closed his eyes.

It was quick. The lieutenant shot him clean through the forehead and watched as he dropped down to the ground dead. Ahsoka tried to fight back tears as she saw this happen. Then she saw movement on the side of the building. Clone troopers were ushering some people away from the building. They looked around as if they were trying not to draw attention to themselves. Ahsoka motioned for the others to follow her. They crept away from the crowd and circled into a back alley. They managed to find a spot to observe the troopers.

"Come on. We have to hurry. The real troopers will be checking around just in…"

Whack! Ahsoka had jumped from her hiding place, grabbed a metal pole nearby and swung it at the nearest trooper. The trooper went down hard. As Ahsoka turned to face another trooper, Zarin and Jeru had jumped out as well. They each tackled a trooper and bashed their heads against the walls. They collapsed unconsciously to the ground. Narin had stayed back and slowly moved forward, about to join the fray. Then…

"Stop!"

The four teens froze as they recognized the low growl voice. They turned to see Ryor the Shistavanean standing there. Around him were the other survivors. Asila, Darin, and Raso (the humans), Zari (the other female Twi'lek), the two Zabraks (Saro and Varino), and the twins Raki and Salira stood behind him. Ryor walked forward and laid a hand on Ahsoka's shoulder.

"Don't Ahsoka. These clones are deserters." he growled. "They came to warn us about the raid just before it happened."

"They're trying to trick you!"

"Commander, trust me that's the last thing we want to do."

Ahsoka froze as she saw the familiar clone walking up behind Ryor. He had the markings on his armor that gave him away instantly. "Rex?"

"Hey youngling. What's up?" Ahsoka welled up and buried her face into Rex's chest plate. "Glad to see you too. But we really should get you kids out of here."

"We can take them someplace safe. Its' where we were last night!" Ahsoka said.

After getting everyone into a transport, Ahsoka and the others led them to the club. They jumped out to let the owner know that they needed to open the cargo area. Once inside, the clones and Jedi got out and filed into the back room. They collapsed around the place with the doctor looking at the unconscious clone troopers.

"Ximina!" Raki and Salira yelled before pouncing on her. They laughed as they hugged her and she returned it.

"Good to see you two made it out. But let me guess, it was because you sneaked out of the temple again didn't you?" Ximina asked.

Raki and Salira averted their eyes from hers and tried to come up with an excuse. Everyone laughed at them as Ximina pretended to scold them. Ahsoka turned to see Rex and the four clones that were conscious laughing as well.

"So Rex, what's your story in all this?" she inquired.

Rex turned to face her. "Well, when Order 66 was issued, I felt that something wasn't right about it. The whole Jedi order turning against the Republic? Not a chance. So Slicer here hacked into the Chancellor's hidden holo recorder system and found the truth. He's the one who's been behind the whole war since before it began. He played both sides against each other until he could use us to wipe out the Jedi order."

"Never felt more used in my life." a trooper said.

Ahsoka recalled the events following their escape from the temple. "Rex, I saw you when I was fleeing the temple. You and your men were escorting Jedi out, but I could tell it wasn't as prisoners. Where are they?"

"They're at a ship hangar actually. They've been hiding aboard the ship and we've been getting it ready to fly. It's a Dreadnought."

Rex got some shocked expressions from the people around the room. Then Zarin spoke up. "You have a Dreadnought! You realize how many people you need to crew that thing?"

"Only about twenty two hundred, but we can carry up to sixteen thousand." Rex smiled as he got even more confused looks. "I told you guys, my men and I no longer serve the Empire. We gathered some men from other units besides the 501st and have taken hold of an old storage hangar. The Dreadnought is brand new and owned by some privateer as a collectible. We're posing as an Imperial search party and were told to 'relieve him' of the ship. It's almost set to leave. We were out checking for anymore Jedi when we came across you guys."

Happy faces shown on the Jedi around the room. They could sense he was telling the truth and were excited. "How many other Jedi have you found?" a curious Salira asked.

"Twelve younglings, all of them human or Twi'lek, and fifteen padawans. Only three of them aren't human. They're all younger than you lot though, so we've had to make sure they don't do anything crazy."

The conversation went on for a little while more before the Jedi started to grab what little belongings they had. They decided that it would be better to leave Coruscant and seek shelter elsewhere. The clones would be their disguise as they left the capital. The Jedi would then set up a faint signal that would try to call Jedi to them. It was on a link only known to Jedi so it was thought to be secure enough for them to use. The group settled into the transport and almost everyone was settled in. Ahsoka watched as Zarin and Ximina said farewell to the club people. Then they were off.

The Jedi were sitting in the back of the large transport. The clones were walking beside as their escort. Every time they stopped, Ahsoka was afraid they had been discovered. Then they would move again. At one point she heard Rex and the other clones jump onto the outside of the transport and hold on as the vehicle moved from the structure ground into the air and land again after a few more minutes.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they landed at a small hangar. Ahsoka was the one who filed out first and was immediately stunned. Rex wasn't kidding. They had a brand new Dreadnought! Troopers in civilian clothing of all sorts were moving to and from the ship and boxes of supplies. Some were wearing their armor and acting as guards at every entrance. She scanned the area and saw a person who didn't look like a clone.

She approached the person and tapped her on the shoulder. The person turned to face her with a smile. The smile quickly turned to one of shock as she realized who she was looking at. "Ahsoka?"

"Kalina?"

The two girls hugged each other. Ahsoka recalled working with her and her master once before on a mission to Corellia. The others from the transport walked over and started to say hi as well. Soon they walked to the Dreadnought and made their way to the large meeting chamber. It was circle room that had three levels of seats surrounding a central holo projector. Spread throughout the room was the other Jedi, some civilians, and the former officers of the clones.

"Welcome to the core members of our little force here." Rex said. Ahsoka and the others bowed and said hello. "Now that we're all here and getting ready to move out soon, I think its' time we named a leader around here."

The group looked as one to Ahsoka. "What? You think I should…But I couldn't!"

"Ahsoka, we clones are used to taking orders from Jedi. The others here served as sub commanders. You however led a full fleet in the attack on the liberation of Ryloth. It makes sense for you to be in charge." Rex said. The other clone officers nodded in agreement with him.

"We're just the few civilians who support the Jedi still. We couldn't lead you guys. We look up to you." a civilian leader said with agreements from the other four civilians in the room.

Ahsoka looked at her forty fellow Jedi. Twelve younglings and twenty-eight padawans. "So what's your reasoning?"

"Ahsoka, you saved us from the temple. You showed us that we could trust you."

"You're the one who has trained not with just one, but several of the masters and earned their respect."

"Besides, as Captain Rex pointed out, you're the only one here who has led a large scale force in a brilliant move that won the battle."

She felt everyone continuing to look at her. She knew she wasn't going to find a way out of this without a big effort in trying to get someone else. She closed her eyes and nodded. "Fine, I'll take the job. But only if I get a representative from each group to help me out."

They debated for awhile on who would be the three representatives. After much talk and persuasion, they finally agreed on three. Rex would be the representative and leader of the clones. A woman named Kalia would lead and represent the small civilian group. And Zarin would represent the Jedi remnant.

Next they tried to figure out where they would go. There wasn't any world that they knew wasn't loyal to the new Empire and willing to take in a bunch of fugitives and deserters. So it was decided they would go to a hidden space lane known only to a few Jedi and send out a rolling, multi changing message for any Jedi or trooper who was on the run to meet with them.

With those two things decided, the group dispersed to help the clones with the final stages before lifting off. Ahsoka wound up helping Jeru set up the coded message.

"Jeru, you sure that this'll work? What if someone else picks this up?"

"Ahsoka, only Jedi know of this code. Its' a rotating code that changes every few minutes. If you recognize the code, then you input the password rotating code that should complete the signal and we establish a link. If you try to hack it, no matter how good you are, a virus will be released back down the link you've established and destroy anything linked to the code. Its' fool proof."

Ahsoka couldn't help but smile at Jeru in his confidence. _He always was a techie. _Ahsoka noticed he was finished and took his leave. She walked through the hallways of the vast ship and came to her room aboard the ship. She closed the door behind her and sat upon the bed. She stared down at the floor with a sadness that would've darkened the skies of Tatooine.

_What am I doing? I can't lead them. I'll wind up doing something stupid and endangering them all. _A knock interrupted her thoughts. She waited for the person to go away, but she felt them there still. She breathed out a sigh before calling out for them to enter.

"Feeling ok?" Zarin asked. She looked back down at the floor and brought her knees to her chest. "I'll take that as a no."

She felt him sit down on the bed next to her. She wrapped her arms around legs and rested her head on her knees. "I just don't think I can lead them. My master is the one that betrayed us. If I can't trust myself, how can I expect them to trust me?"

"Ahsoka, stop. You'll do fine…"

"No I won't! I'll do something stupid and wind up getting us all killed! Maybe if I go now, you guys can…"

Ahsoka was interrupted as Zarin pulled her out of her cradling position and hugged her close. She was so stunned by the move that she wasn't sure how to react. She felt her face flush and her heart speed up.

"Ahsoka, listen to me. There's a reason we trust you to lead us. All of us know you're the most experienced Jedi here and a valued friend. You're hesitant about taking the leadership role and that's perfect. It means you don't want to take the power over us and become corrupt by it. As for you trying to leave, I for one would hunt you down and drag you back if I have to."

Ahsoka smiled and rested her head on his shoulder while bringing her arms up to return the hug. She felt the warmth of his body and felt safe within his arms. As if she no longer felt afraid or unsure of what to do. "Thanks Zarin. I really needed that."

"No problem Ahsoka. Anything, anytime, and anywhere for you." Zarin replied. He pulled back from the hug and kissed her on the forehead. Then he just stood up and walked to the door. "We're going to be taking off soon. You might want to be present on the bridge when we do."

As soon as he left, Ahsoka felt a rush of emotions hit her. First happiness, then confusion, followed by shock, and finally fear. _I felt so wonderful there, especially when he kissed me on my forehead. But why? Do I l… love him? No! I couldn't! Its' against the Jedi code!_

After a few more minutes of feeling flustered, she got up and walked to the bridge. The hallways were full of excitement and people rushing up and down them. She recalled the crew count at two thousand clones, five hundred civilians, and forty Jedi. She was amazed at how many people were willing to take such a risk and get off Coruscant. When she reached the bridge, all the people she had met earlier were scattered about it.

"We've finished loading the supplies onto the ship, Commander. All personnel have been brought on board and we just sealed the ramps. We can take off whenever you give the command." Rex said.

Ahsoka took a look around at all the faces on the bridge before finding Zarin. Getting an encouraging smile from him, she turned to the pilot and two co-pilots. "Launch."

"Initiating ion drives."

"Course set for leaving atmosphere."

"Releasing clamps and opening hangar."

"Lift off!"

Ahsoka felt the ship moving under her feet. Out the viewport in front of her, she saw the ship rise and come out of the hangar. It turned to the left and started to climb towards the freedom of space. Ahsoka held her breath as they approached the shield barrier. Just as expected everyone else tensed up a little bit as a voice came over the comm system.

"Dreadnought heavy cruiser _Deliverance_, this is Imperial Watch Tower XJ-45. State your intent, course, and mission identification." an emotionless voice asked.

Ahsoka nodded to the civilian manning the communications station. He turned on the channel and said, "Imperial Watch Tower XJ-45, this is the _Deliverance_. We are heading out to support the 67th Battle Fleet out in the Mid Rim. We are transmitting our course to you and our mission id verification." This was of course all a lie, but they had to give them something to lower the shield.

Seconds went by slowly as they waited for a response. Just as it looked like they would ram the shield barrier, they saw the faintest flicker across the sky. "_Deliverance_, this is Tower XJ-45. You've been clear to proceed through the barrier."

Without waiting for the comm officer to respond, the ship moved forward. The shield closed behind them and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Then froze again as the voice came back on. "_Deliverance_, stand by for inspection teams from the Star Destroyer _Sweet Victory_."

"What? Since when are we required to undergo inspections?"

"Since Jedi have been discovered trying to flee the planet. Again, stand by for search parties."

Everyone tensed and looked at Ahsoka. She quickly ran through every possible thing they could do. Too many Jedi were on board to actually hide them. If the clone troopers met with the inspection team and didn't know something new the Imperials had come up with, they'd be discovered. There was only one option left: run like hell and blast any Imperial in their way.

"Weapons, start up the guns slowly and wait for the destroyer to come in close. Engines, get the hyperdrive ready immediately. Rex, do we have any hyperspace capable fighters?"

"Two squadrons of Y-wings, a squadron of V-wings, a squadron of Arc-170s, and a squadron of Z-95 Headhunters."

_Wow, five squadrons of fighters? That's sixty starfighters in all! Where did they get them all? _"Then take command here. I'll lead a half squadron of Y-wings to cover us from any pursuers. I'll nee some volunteers for this so get ten people down to the hangar immediately."

As she left, she felt Zarin running behind her. "What're you doing?" She looked back over her shoulder at him.

"You'll need a gunner, so I thought I'd volunteer." he answered with a grin on his face. Ahsoka returned her attention to the front as she ran, barely aware that her heart sped up even more with him coming with her.

They reached the hangar where the half squadron of Y-wings was kept. She saw ten pilots, four civilians and six clones, waiting in the cockpits and gunnery positions of each fighter. She and Zarin ran and jumped in the last one. As Zarin strapped himself into the gun turret, Ahsoka closed the cockpit and turned the comm over to the half squadron's channel.

"Alright, this is Ahsoka Tano. Designation code: Defender One. Defender Squadron report in."

"Defender Two, ready to go."

"Defender Three, let's get moving."

"Defender Four, green and ready."

"Defender Five, set to fly."

"Defender Six, locked and loaded."

Ahsoka activated the starfighter's engines and flew it out of the hangar with the other five following. The minute they exited the hangar, the turbo lasers of the _Deliverance_ fired on the Star Destroyer approaching them. Since the destroyer didn't know of the attack, the lasers hit the unprotected hull and caused massive damage. A flight of ARC-170s flew out of the hangar. Ahsoka felt Zarin's turret open up on them as they turned to come at them. Two of them burst into flames under his fire. Three more fell to the fire from the other fighter's turrets. Then they were past them and positioning themselves between the rest of the fighters and the _Deliverance_.

The Imperial fighters turned around to come at them. Zarin swiveled around to bring his turret to cover their tail. Ahsoka took a moment to glance behind her at the Star Destroyer which started to lazily drift off. Another one came in behind them with two more circling around to join the pursuit. Two light cruisers streaked ahead of them, drawing closer to the _Deliverance._

"Defender Five and Defender Six, head to the front of the _Deliverance_ and make sure they get out of range of the planet's gravity. The rest of you, we've got two light cruisers coming in fast. I need a volunteer to come in fast with us to knock out their engines."

"This is Defender Three, we'll come with you."

Ahsoka and Defender Three pulled back and came around to face the cruisers. They sped past the incoming fire and came turning around. Zarin and Defender Three's turret gunner opened up on the ARC-170s while they lined up for the shots to the cruisers' engines. Ahsoka brought the one on the right into her targeting and fired off her proton torpedoes. They connected with the engines and blew them to pieces. The cruiser started to drift off to the right and upward from its' original course.

Ahsoka let out a shout of success and turned her to see…Defender Three's engines ablaze! The turret was blown out and empty. She could see the pilot struggling to bring the fighter under control.

"Defender Three! What's your status?" a voice over the comms asked.

"Port engine on fire and losing stability. Turret gunner dead. Fighter is leaking fuel and oxygen. Losing control of the fighter."

"Can you make it back to the ship?" Ahsoka asked.

"Negative. I repeat negative. Fuels being pumped out too fast."

"Then try and come to heading 5628 and we'll…"

"Commander, don't. By the time you got a tractor beam on me, that cruiser will have the support of those three destroyers. If we don't deal with this cruiser now, it'll slip past us and hit the engines like we're doing. I won't become a prisoner of the Empire, so I'll ram the engines."

A brief and uncomfortable silence came over the comms. Then Ahsoka screamed at the comms. "What about your torpedoes?"

"Firing controls are lost."

"You can't just through your life away!"

"Commander, I thank you for your concern, but listen to me. I'm not going to be able to get out of this alive and out of the Empire's clutches. I know how many torpedoes you shot off thanks to my scanners and you don't have enough to take this one out as well. Instead of risking another fighter going down, I'll ram their engines while arming all my torpedoes. The blast will be more than enough for the task."

Ahsoka flew over next to the injured fighter. She saw the pilot was a civilian. She fought back the urge to continue pleading with the stubborn man. She activated a secure link to the pilot. "Pilot, you're stubborn but brave. I can't say anything that would convey my sorrow and thanks for what you are doing. If this is finally it, at least tell me your name."

"This is Solomon, Commander. My gunner was clone named Skimmer. Its' an honor to have known you mam."

"Same to you Solomon. Same to you." Ahsoka replied before pulling away as Solomon's fighter shot forward and disappeared in a ball of fire and metal. The cruiser spun out of control from the explosion and went off to the left. Ahsoka pushed her fighter forward and caught up to Defender Two and Four behind the _Deliverance._

"This is…Commander…Freedom. Defender Squadron, link your hyperdrive engines and computers to the _Deliverance_. _Deliverance_, initiate jump."

As the familiar view of hyperspace enveloped the fighter and shot off in the same direction as the rest of their small force, Ahsoka relaxed in her seat. She heard Zarin do the same.

"Commander Freedom?" Zarin inquired.

"Hey, I couldn't think of anything else! Besides, instead of giving the Imperials who were more than likely listening in on the channel an actual name, I gave them an idea instead."

"Commander Freedom…not too bad if not a little bit of a cliché. So, are the rest of us supposed to come up with codenames as well?"

"Only if you think you want one." Ahsoka replied weakly at that.

"Ahsoka?"

"…"

"Ahsoka?"

"…"

"Ahsoka?!"

"Zarin, I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to be strong for everyone and find them a quiet place we can live in peace, away from all this. Then, I'm going to kill the Emperor."

Zarin was stunned by what she said. Then, his mind was at ease and he felt a strange force moving through him. It cleared his mind and focused him on what he knew he needed to say.

"Ahsoka, I don't think you need to follow that dangerous path. Yes, the Emperor needs to be killed. But you're full of all sorts of negative emotions. If you were to do that, you'd travel to the dark side. We wouldn't want that to happen to you. I wouldn't want that to happen." Zarin then leaned back and fell asleep.

Ahsoka felt ashamed after what he said. But then a new thought entered her head. _Is he…watching over me? Why? Because I'm the leader? No, his voice sounded more emotional than respectful. What does this mean?_ She looked up behind her to the turret cockpit to see him resting. She smiled at him and relaxed into her seat. _I may not understand what's going on, but I do know one thing. This war may be over, but a new one is about to begin._

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